How Boko Haram bomber changed her mind after seeing her parents in the crowd

Three female suicide bombers showed up on Monday at the Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Dikwa, Borno state, Nigeria. They were welcomed and offered a place to sleep in the camp which houses some 53,600 people.

But early Tuesday morning, two of the girls blew themselves up with bombs they had been concealing, killing 60 people and injuring 78.

According to Sani Datti of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the third girl surrendered to the authorities after recognizing her parents and siblings in the camp and decided not to detonate her device.

She also warned that Boko Haram was planning future attacks at IDP camps.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, deputising for President Muhammadu Buhari who was on holiday, described it as “regrettable that the heartless terrorists chose to unleash their wickedness on people who were taking refuge from previous acts of destruction in their homes”.

He promised those behind the attack would be hunted down and ordered that “formidable security in and around the IDP camps in the country be beefed up and renewed measures put in place to guard against future occurrences”.

“From what we gathered three female suicide bombers disguised as IDPs arrived at IDP camp at about 6:30 am,” he said.

“Two of them detonated their explosives. The third one refused to set off hers when she realised her parents and siblings were in the camp. She surrendered herself to the authorities.”

Ahmed said the woman told the military why she refused to detonate her explosives and warned them of further attacks to come in the remote region.

The injured were taken to the Borno State Specialist Hospital and the Umaru Shehu Hospital, both in Maiduguri for treatment, he added.

The camp in Dikwa is currently home to people from six local government areas in Borno: Dikwa itself, Gamboru Ngala, on the border with Cameroon, and the towns of Marte, Kalabalge, Bama and Mafa.